Testing truck CO2 emissions

Unlike passenger cars, there is no standard EU procedure to test new truck CO2 emissions.

The European Commission has spent much of the last decade developing such a test and has called this procedure VECTO.

This test is an essential building block of for truck CO2 regulation.

What is VECTO?

Small vehicles are generally tested in a laboratory. But because of the size of trucks and the wide variety of models, laboratory testing is not really an option for large-scale testing. That’s why the Commission is following a simulation based approach. Instead of testing the whole vehicle, all components that influence CO2 or fuel economy, will be tested separately. The tires, aerodynamics, engine, transmission, weight etc are then used as an input to a software tool that can calculate CO2 emissions over typical duty cycles. This software tool is called VECTO.

Is the VECTO approach a good idea?

In principle it is a good idea to use simulation as it allows relatively accurate calculations for a great variety of vehicles. The simulation approach has been industry practice for some time and is also used in other regions such as the US and Japan. So VECTO is a good basis for regulation. But VECTO is only as strong as the input parameters it depends on. If anything is wrong with the way aerodynamics are tested, this will have a major impact on the end result, even if the software is flawless. In that sense the truck CO2 test might be subject to the same weaknesses as the passenger car CO2 tests: lack of on-road verification testing and poor oversight and control.

What needs to be done to improve VECTO?

To make VECTO more robust a few things need to happen. First of all, the test procedure needs to be complemented by an on-road full-vehicle test at the end of the process. This test would only apply to a sample of vehicles but would be used to verify that simulated and on-road performance closely matches one another. If a truck would exceed a certain threshold or tolerance (e.g. 10%) it wouldn’t pass the procedure. This procedure is somewhat similar to the real driving emissions (RDE) procedure that was introduced to measure NOx emissions in real world traffic conditions.

Secondly, it needs to be possible for (independent) third parties to check the manufacturers test results. Currently the testing system relies on type approval authorities and technical services overseeing the tests performed by manufacturers. As the Volkswagen-affair has shown, this system is far from perfect as national type approval authorities often have a cosy relationship with manufacturers. To enable third party checking, they require full access to the test procedure and the input parameters.

What is the Commission’s timeline on VECTO?

In 2016 the Commission will finalise the VECTO test and adopt it as a type approval requirement. Once adopted, truckmakers will need to start testing new trucks in accordance with the VECTO test procedure from around 2018. The type approval amendment will be introduced in comitology, not co-decision.

In 2017 the Commission will make a proposal to legally oblige truckmakers and member states to report these VECTO test results to the EU. The so-called Monitoring, Reporting and Verification proposal will be a legislative proposal and needs to be approved by Parliament and Council. Member states will likely have to report this data to the Commission as from 2018/19.

Since the VECTO procedure does not currently cover all truck categories (and technologies) the Commission will continue working on the completion of specific test procedures for buses and small urban trucks. At some point the Commission should also start working on a procedure to test trailer performance.

Contact our experts:

William Todts

Stef Cornelis

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It started with a meeting in a “cosy hotel” in Brussels back in 1997. Truck CEOs had come together to discuss something that would guarantee huge profits for the years to come. This meeting in a cosy hotel marked the beginnings of a price fixing cartel that would last for the next fourteen (14!) years! MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Scania, Iveco and DAF all participated and jointly fixed prices and delayed the introduction of emission technologies.

Having more than 13 million trucks on EU roads and dominating the global truck market with a share of 40%, the European trucking industry is enormous. Controlled by five companies, this market will continue to grow in the next decade - read all about their share and their huge economic influence in our report on the economics of the trucking industry.

The EU first signaled it wanted to tackle truck CO2 emissions in 2007. For almost a decade, the Commission remained vague about its plans and focused on developing a test procedure to measure truck CO2 emissions called VECTO.

Unlike passenger cars, there is no standard EU procedure to test new truck CO2 emissions. The European Commission has spent much of the last decade developing such a test and has called this procedure VECTO. This test is an essential building block for truck CO2 regulation.

One key area of discussion is whether market forces alone can deliver sufficient CO2 savings or whether additional regulatory intervention is needed. Truckmakers oppose regulation but the European Commission announced that it will introduce truck CO2 standards during this Commission.

Transport is by far the biggest driver of oil demand at EU level with 2/3rds of the final demand coming from transport. According to a study by Cambridge Econometrics – the EU’s dependence on crude oil and diesel imports has increased in the last 15 years. In 2015 Europe spent in total around €215bn on crude oil and diesel imports.
In 2015 Europe spent in total around €215bn on crude oil and diesel imports.

What makes a truck consumes less fuel? Part of the solution is the way a truck driver actually drives the truck - but a huge part is about the technological options one can purchase with the truck. As a matter of fact truck drivers and hauliers could already save more than 30% of fuel each year, by adding these expensive options proposed by manufacturers.

It started with a meeting in a “cosy hotel” in Brussels back in 1997. Truck CEOs had come together to discuss something that would guarantee huge profits for the years to come. This meeting in a cosy hotel marked the beginnings of a price fixing cartel that would last for the next fourteen (14!) years! MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Scania, Iveco and DAF all participated and jointly fixed prices and delayed the introduction of emission technologies.

Having more than 13 million trucks on EU roads and dominating the global truck market with a share of 40%, the European trucking industry is enormous. Controlled by five companies, this market will continue to grow in the next decade - read all about their share and their huge economic influence in our report on the economics of the trucking industry.

The EU first signaled it wanted to tackle truck CO2 emissions in 2007. For almost a decade, the Commission remained vague about its plans and focused on developing a test procedure to measure truck CO2 emissions called VECTO.

Heavy-duty vehicles

HDVs comprise trucks, buses and coaches. HDVs are defined as freight vehicles of more than 3.5 tonnes (trucks) or passenger transport vehicles of more than eight seats (buses and coaches).

The HDV fleet is very heterogeneous, with vehicles that have different uses and drive cycles. Even trucks are segmented into several categories, including long­haul, regional delivery, urban delivery and construction.

EPA – US Environmental Protection Agency

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes USEPA) is an agency of the U.S. federal government which was created in 1970 (by the Nixon administration) for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.

VECTO – Vehicle Energy consumption Calculation Tool

A simulation tool to calculate both, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions from the whole vehicle. VECTO has been developed by the European Commission (DG CLIMA and JRC) with TUG support over the last two years. ACEA, OEMs and component manufacturers have been also involved and provided key input and test vehicles – DG CLIMA is the leader for the project.

ACEA

ACEA represents Europe’s car, van, truck and bus manufacturers, and works with a variety of institutional, non-governmental, research and civil society partners – as well as with a number of industry associations to ensure the economic environmental and social sustainability of the automobile industry.

It regroups the largest European truck manufacturers such as DAF – Iveco – Volkswagen – Volvo are also members of this organisation.

NHTSA – National Highway Traffic Safety Authority

NHTSA was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 and is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety. It works daily to help prevent crashes and their attendant costs, both human and financial.

Transport & Environment

Transport & Environment’s is an environmental campaign group that promotes, at EU and global level, a transport policy based on the principles of sustainable development. Transport policy should minimise harmful impacts on the environment and health, maximise efficiency of resources, including energy and land, and guarantee safety and sufficient access for all.

1 Trillion tonne-kilometers of road freight takes place in the EU per year

Europe spend €215 Bn per year on crude oil and diesel imports (2015)

66% of the oil imported is directly consumed in road transport

30% of this oil is imported from Russia

88% of the oil consumed in the EU is imported

Since the mid-1990s fuel efficiency has only progress of about 3% in the EU

€2.93 Bn euros is the amount of the settlement fine imposed to the MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF cartel which ran 14 years

COST OF RUNNING A TRUCK

A truck runs about 130.000 kms per year

Up to 30% of the costs is spent on fuel

A truck without options costs about €95.000 while it costs up to €138.000 with fuel efficiency options (Scania R450)

A typical truck consumes about 33L / 100km

The typical diesel costs for a year (130.000 kms) is €40.000 which is about 1/3rd of the cost of running a truck

EFFICIENCY GAINS

The European Commission estimates possible fuel efficiency gains of 35%

Other estimates efficiency gains up to 41-52%(AEA-Ricardo report)

Japan passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2005

The USA passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2010

China passed a fuel efficiency regulation in 2013

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